Mr. Owens introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the
Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 to provide grants to improve the infrastructure of elementary and
secondary schools.

1.

Grants for school
infrastructure improvement

The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:

X

SCHOOL
CONSTRUCTION, MODERNIZATION, AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT

10001.

Findings

The Congress finds the following:

(1)

There are 48,400,000 students in 95,726
elementary and secondary public schools across the United States. The current
Federal expenditure for education infrastructure is $12,000,000. The Federal
expenditure per enrolled student for education infrastructure is less than 25
cents. An appropriation of $22,000,000,000 would result in a Federal
expenditure for education infrastructure of $454 per student per fiscal
year.

(2)

The General
Accounting Office in 1995 reported that the Nation’s elementary and secondary
schools need approximately $112,000,000,000 to repair or upgrade facilities.
Increased enrollments and continued building decay has raised this need to an
estimated $200,000,000,000. Local education agencies, particularly those in
central cities or those with high minority populations, cannot obtain adequate
financial resources to complete necessary repairs or construction. These local
education agencies face an annual struggle to meet their operating
budgets.

(3)

According to a
1991 survey conducted by the American Association of School Administrators, 74
percent of all public school buildings need to be replaced. Almost one-third of
such buildings were built prior to World War II.

(4)

The majority of
the schools in unsatisfactory condition are concentrated in central cities and
serve large populations of poor or minority students.

(5)

In the large cities
of America, numerous schools still have polluting coal burning furnaces.
Decaying buildings threaten the health, safety, and learning opportunities of
students. A growing body of research has linked student achievement and
behavior to the physical building conditions and overcrowding. Asthma and other
respiratory illnesses exist in above average rates in areas of coal burning
pollution.

(6)

According to a
study conducted by the General Accounting Office in 1995, most schools are
unprepared in critical areas for the 21st century. Most schools do not fully
use modern technology and lack access to the information superhighway. Schools
in central cities and schools with minority populations above 50 percent are
more likely to fall short of adequate technology elements and have a greater
number of unsatisfactory environmental conditions than other schools.

(7)

School facilities
such as libraries and science laboratories are inadequate in old buildings and
have outdated equipment. Frequently, in overcrowded schools, these same
facilities are utilized as classrooms for an expanding school
population.

(8)

Overcrowded
classrooms have a dire impact on learning. Students in overcrowded schools
score lower on both mathematics and reading exams than do students in schools
with adequate space. In addition, overcrowding in schools negatively affects
both classroom activities and instructional techniques. Overcrowding also
disrupts normal operating procedures, such as lunch periods beginning as early
as 10 a.m. and extending into the afternoon; teachers being unable to use a
single room for an entire day; too few lockers for students, and jammed
hallways and restrooms which encourage disorder and rowdy behavior.

(9)

School
modernization for information technology is an absolute necessity for education
for a coming CyberCivilization. The General Accounting Office has reported that
many schools are not using modern technology and many students do not have
access to facilities that can support education into the 21st century. It is
imperative that we now view computer literacy as basic as reading, writing, and
arithmetic.

(10)

Both the national
economy and national security require an investment in school construction.
Students educated in modern, safe, and well-equipped schools will contribute to
the continued strength of the American economy and will ensure that our Armed
Forces are the best trained and best prepared in the world. The shortage of
qualified information technology workers continues to escalate and presently
many foreign workers are being recruited to staff jobs in America.

10002.

Purpose

The purpose of this title is to provide
Federal funds to enable local educational agencies to finance the costs
associated with the construction, repair, and modernization for information
technology of school facilities within their jurisdictions.

10003.

Federal
assistance in the form of grants

(a)

Authority and
Conditions for Grants

(1)

In
general

To assist in the construction, reconstruction,
renovation, or modernization for information technology of elementary and
secondary schools, the Secretary shall make grants of funds to State
educational agencies for the construction, reconstruction, or renovation, or
for modernization for information technology, of such schools.

(2)

Formula for
allocation

From the amount appropriated under section 10006 for
any fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate to each State an amount that
bears the same ratio to such appropriated amount as the number of school-age
children in such State bears to the total number of school-age children in all
the States. The Secretary shall determine the number of school-age children on
the basis of the most recent satisfactory data available to the
Secretary.

(b)

Conditions for
Receipt of Grants

(1)

Applications

In
order to receive a grant under this title, a State shall submit to the
Secretary an application containing or accompanied by such information and
assurances as the Secretary may require. Such applications shall specify the
method by which the State educational agency will allocate funds to local
educational agencies and the procedures by which projects will be selected for
funding. Such applications shall contain assurances that such funds will only
be provided if the State educational agency finds that such constructions will
be undertaken in an economical manner, and that any such construction,
reconstruction, renovation, or modernization is not or will not be of elaborate
or extravagant design or materials.

(2)

Priorities

In
approving projects for funding under this title, the State educational agency
shall consider—

(A)

the threat the
condition of the physical plant poses to the safety and well-being of
students;

(B)

the demonstrated
need for the construction, reconstruction, renovation, or modernization as
based on the condition of the facility;

(C)

the age of the
facility to be renovated or replaced;

(D)

whether the
facility is eligible to receive education technology assistance from the
National Education Technology Funding Corporation under section 708 of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–104; 110 Stat. 157); and

(E)

the needs related
to preparation for modern technology.

(3)

Charter
schools

In approving projects for funding under this title, the
State educational agency shall ensure that a public charter school that
constitutes a local educational agency under State law is eligible for
assistance under the same terms and conditions as any other local educational
agency.

(c)

Amount and
Condition of Grants

A grant to a local educational agency may be
in an amount not exceeding the total cost of the facility construction,
reconstruction, renovation, or modernization for information technology, as
determined by the State educational agency.

10004.

General
provisions

The Secretary shall
take such action as may be necessary to ensure that all laborers and mechanics
employed by contractors or subcontractors on any project assisted under this
title—

(1)

shall be paid wages
at rates not less than those prevailing on the same type of work on similar
construction in the immediate locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor
in accordance with the Act of March 31, 1931 (Davis-Bacon Act), as amended; and

(2)

shall be employed
not more than 40 hours in any 1 week unless the employee receives wages for the
employee’s employment in excess of the hours specified in paragraph (1) at a
rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which the
employee is employed;

but the
Secretary may waive the application of this subsection in cases or classes or
cases where laborers or mechanics, not otherwise employed at any time in the
construction of such project, voluntarily donate their services without full
compensation for the purpose of lowering the costs of construction and the
Secretary determines that any amounts saved thereby are fully credited to the
educational institution undertaking the construction.10005.

Definitions

As used in this title:

(1)

School

The
term school means structures suitable for use as classrooms,
laboratories, libraries, and related facilities, the primary purpose of which
is the instruction of elementary and secondary school students.

(2)

State

The
term State includes the several States of the United States and the District of
Columbia.

10006.

Authorization
of appropriations

There are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title, $10,000,000,000 for
fiscal year 2007 and a sum no less than this amount for each of the 4
succeeding fiscal
years.